Ocean Colour Remote Sensing and Marine Optics

NAMRA researcher

Water quality and phytoplankton dynamics in the complex coastal waters of Darwin Harbour and surrounding shelf waters from ocean colour remote sensing data.

Partly due to the remote location and oceanographic complexity of the Northern Territory continental shelf waters, the sampling, conservation and management of the marine ecosystems of this region are severely limited by the lack of spatial and temporally explicit observations of bio-physical indicators.

The aim of this research is to use ocean colour remote sensing data from the NASA-MODIS and ESA-MERIS sensors to assess changes in water quality (suspended sediments, Chlorophyll, organic matter,…) and phytoplankton bloom dynamics in the complex coastal waters of Darwin Harbour and the Van Diemen Gulf.